In 2006, Carol Dweck turned the education world upside down when she wrote the book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” Understandably so! Instead of subscribing to the idea that students have a “fixed mindset” where their intelligence determines their ability level, the new “growth mindset” model suggested that through hard work, perseverance, and some effective learning strategies, students can do much more than they believe they are capable of doing. In the world of music education, we’ve known that all along! Holding our students accountable to a higher standard and helping them reach their full potential is what we do all day, every day! If you have a student in your class that just isn’t getting it, I encourage you to find a new way to connect to that student, motivate them to reach their potential, and help them find a growth mindset.
Speaking of growth, let’s talk about the Alabama Music Educators Association. In the last year, our membership has grown from just over 1,500 members to 1,716 members as of the end of July (the most recent data provided to me by NAfME). That now places us as the tenth largest MEA in the country, even though Alabama is the 24th largest state! Thank you all for encouraging your peers and colleagues to join our music education community – we are certainly stronger together. The work doesn’t stop here…we must continue to collaborate together, mentor new members, and encourage involvement from our collegiate members. I had the opportunity to attend the cNAfME Fall Summit hosted at The University of Alabama on September 20. At the conclusion of the event, I spoke to our future music teachers about the direction AMEA is heading and how important it was for them to dive in. The future is bright in this state!
Southern Division Meeting
In mid-September, the Southern Division of NAfME assembled in Tampa, Florida. The Southern Division is the largest division of NAfME and is made up of representatives from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Representing AMEA was Stuart Tankesley, president-elect, Dr. Phil Wilson, past-president, Greg Gumina, executive director, and myself. Led by NAfME Southern Division President Annamarie Bollino, the meetings allowed collaboration among the states to see how our organizations are run and how we approach our conferences. NAfME president, Dr. Cecil Adderley, and NAfME Senior Manager for State Advocacy and Equity, Jazzmone Sutton, passionately spoke to state leadership regarding the importance of adapting our organizations to stay relevant for future generations of music teachers. We also received updates on the national association during this time. Following the meeting with the national office, topics of discussion for the Southern Division included the fine arts seal for high school diplomas, data collecting and mentorship of our newest colleagues, advocacy of our programs and associations, cNAfME involvement, and general challenges to overcome. Did you know NAfME has an entire resource library of professional development webinars on just about any topic you may need help? Check out the library here. https://nafme.org/publications-resources/resource-library/
2027 Professional
Development Conference
We’re excited to welcome you to Birmingham for the 2027 Alabama Music Educators Association Conference. As you can see from the Ala Breve, we have a full slate of outstanding featured clinicians and performers. Our keynote speaker this year will be Scott Lang. Scott is a former music teacher and now travels the country speaking about how to build leadership within music programs. I last heard Scott speak at AMEA in 2017, and his ideas transformed the way I thought about student leadership in my classroom. I’m excited to share that Scott will also be presenting two sessions at our conference in addition to his keynote.
Following the keynote address, we’re excited to have a faculty brass choir perform in the BJCC Theater. A first for the AMEA Conference, this brass choir will include faculty members from over 21 different universities around the state. I want to thank Dr. Brandon Slocumb from Huntingdon College for organizing this group. We will have professors represented from the following schools: Alabama A&M, ASU, Auburn, Faulkner, Huntingdon College, JSU, Miles, Montevallo, Samford, Shelton State, Talladega, Troy, UA, UAB, UAH, UNA, USA, and Wallace State. Wow! The performance should be stunning!
The keynote is just one component of a stunning conference lineup. Be sure to read through the Ala Breve in its entirety to start planning your conference visit now. We can’t wait to see you in just a few short months.
If I can ever be of service, please don’t hesitate to reach out!